The Athletic ranks Canadiens’ Bell Centre as best arena in the NHL

Montreal is not called the mecca of hockey for no reason. The city bleeds for the Canadiens, and it shows once you step into the Bell Centre. Watching a game at the Bell Centre is as close as you can get to a religious experience if you are a hockey fan. Whether it is the pregame festivities outside the arena, the video the team plays before walking out onto the ice, or the never-quieting fans who cheer just as loudly for a defensive stop as they would for a highlight-reel goal, the Bell Centre delivers on every level.

The Athletic confirmed what Habs fans already knew, naming the Bell Centre the best arena in the NHL. Author James Mirtle broke down the grading into four categories: Location, amenities, atmosphere, and affordability. The Bell Centre ranked first in location and atmosphere, with the latter receiving a nearly perfect score of 9.8 out of 10. If there is anything to take away from the article, it is that the fans are what make the Bell Centre such a great place to watch hockey.

Best fans in the business

Over the last decade or so, the Canadiens have not been one of the premier teams in the league, which, for new fans across the NHL, means they have never seen what the Bell Centre looks like in big games. Even when the Canadiens made the Stanley Cup final in 2021, fans did not get the full experience, with attendance limited to 5000 people due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the hockey world was reminded just how special the Bell Centre is during the 4 Nations Face-Off. Hockey fans have been starved of international hockey since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Which is why when the NHL announced the 4 Nations Face-Off, there was only one right building to kick off the tournament: the Bell Centre.

The Bell Centre is loud no matter who the Canadiens play on any day of the week, but the fans during that tournament had another gear that most other buildings have never experienced. The fans were special during the opening game against Team Sweden, but they were on a whole different level when Team Canada’s biggest rivals, Team USA, marched into the arena. It only added fuel to the fire with the way that game started.

Three fights in nine seconds, arguably, no better way to get the fans' full and undivided attention. There was no way of quieting the fans after that. Just when you thought the building could not get any louder, the fans found a new level when Connor McDavid opened the scoring for Canada just a couple of minutes later. Even though Team Canada ended up losing the game 3-1, the fans never wavered, continuing to cheer on their nation even after the buzzer went off. Those moments do not come around very often, but Habs fans made sure to showcase that no one else does it quite like them.

The full experience

While the fans deserve a lot of credit for making the Bell Centre such an incredible place, the Canadiens organization might be the best in the business when it comes to pregame ceremonies. Specifically, whether it is honouring alumni or paying respect to former players who have passed away, no franchise does it quite like the Canadiens. There is no better example than the way they chose to honour the late, great hockey icon Ken Dryden.

The tribute video alone was enough to make even the toughest hockey fans tear up. The video opens with former Canadiens captain and Hockey Hall of Famer Bob Gainey reading a blurb from Dryden’s book “The Game.” One of, if not the most influential hockey books ever written. The video continues with old clips of Dryden talking about his love for Montreal, the fans and his teammates. Once the video ended, a spotlight shone over the net showing Dryden’s iconic mask resting on top of the net. An incredible tribute to an all-time great athlete and person.

The home of hockey

The Canadiens are the most accomplished team in NHL history, and while all their winning was done before the Bell Centre was opened in 1996, the prestige and history of the franchise still live on. The franchise carried the torch from the old Montreal Forum to the Molson Centre (now called the Bell Centre), bringing all the past glory to the new building. If there is one hockey arena that every fan should experience one day, the Bell Centre is at the top of that list.